Q: I replaced a gas water heater with an electric one from Sears. The hot water takes a long time to come out of the faucet. Do you know what the problem might be?

A: The problem might be that the water heater is located too far from the fixtures where it has to heat the water pipes before reaching the faucet. In a typical residential plumbing system, water is forced from the water heater through the pipes to the fixture.

Once the faucet is shut off, the water remaining in the pipes cools, and you get cooled water the next time the faucet is turned on. If your hot-water pipes are accessible, they should be covered with a foam insulation to reduce the heat loss to the surrounding air. The 3-foot-long pieces of foam are slit down the side for ease of installation and are available at most home and hardware stores.

Other problems that might occur during installation that can affect the quantity of hot water are:

1. If the workers connected the hot- and cold-water lines on the wrong inlets for the heater, the water will start off warm and then cool rapidly.

2. If the top electrical heating element was not connected at the factory, or if the thermostat is set on low, there will not be enough hot water in the system.

3. There are usually two heating elements on an electric water heater, one at the bottom that heats the water inside the tank and one at the top to keep the water at a set temperature. If the top element is damaged, the bottom element will not, by itself, be able to provide an adequate supply of hot water.

Assuming the water heater is working properly and was properly installed, you can have a circulating hot-water pump installed on the new water heater to force hot water to any fixture you desire.

Waiting for hot water to flow can waste hundreds of gallons of water per fixture every year, so the pump would be a good investment. On average, the circulating pump could save you close to $100 a year in combined water and energy usage.

Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors.